You guys, my friend Astarte (we went to high school together so I should probably get her to sign a confidentiality agreement regarding all the miniskirts and ill-advised patterned black stockings I used to wear) took a jewelry-making class and is making all kinds of pretty sparklies these days. She’s having a giveaway for one of her bracelets.
Now, back to the updates.
Baby Food Muffins. The ones I made with the old jars of carrot turned out well, but when I used some “tropical fruit blend” that nobody liked, the muffins came out edible but overly moist, and all the chocolate chips sank to the bottom. Some baby foods are probably made with more water than others, and also probably have less fiber for Muffin Structural Support.
Pens. Remember how I was all, “I don’t care how much they cost, I want GOOD PENS!” Then I went and stood in the pen aisle with my print-out of the comment section, and I bought nothing. Instead, I’m going to wait until those things start going on back-to-school sales, and buy several different kinds then.
Interfering Clerks. With time, I still feel good about my reaction. Sometimes in such situations I later curse my wimpiness, but in this case I didn’t. If it happened again, I would write a letter to the manager explaining what had happened.
Henry’s Birthday Presents. We got him half a dozen dinosaur shirts from various stores, the biggest haul being from Macy’s where I found FOUR. He loves them. Now if he’s not wearing a dinosaur shirt, he wants to know WHY. We also gave him a large softish plastic brachiosaurus from Target, which was a hit.
Snuggling his brachiosaurus
The Dolls. You realize they don’t LIVE in their unders on the sofa but were only there because I had just unpacked them from the bins? Yes. We don’t have enough spare seating in this house to use it for dolls. I got rid of nine of them (#s 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12), plus a big bin of doll clothes, giving them to a friend of my mom’s who brings dolls to places such as shelters. I found it too overwhelming to do the whole thing all at once, so I did a “first sweep” and got rid of the ones I was most sure I didn’t want anymore. It’s been several weeks, and now I think I’m going to get rid of the rest of the dolls, plus most of the clothes. I might keep ONE doll, because Elizabeth has a doll and we might want to play dolls together. I’ll also keep enough clothes for the two dolls.
Books. Short review of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell: I liked it, but as usual with Gladwell’s books, it seemed like an article expanded to book-length: the basic idea is very interesting but doesn’t take long to communicate, and then the rest of the book is examples and restating.
Short review of the Duggars book: Bleah. I’d thought I’d be interested in the organizational stuff, but instead I was alternately bored and annoyed.
The other books went back to the library unread (though I got halfway through Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner) because I ran out of renewals.
American Psycho. SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! I liked the whole book until the end, which was one of those “What do you think REALLY HAPPENED?” endings, which I HATE. I’m still kind of pissed whenever I think of it. If you read the book, what did YOU conclude? That he did all that stuff, or that he was delusional?
Georgie. Georgie is hanging in there. His coughing is more frequent, and his side-breathing is now evident even to me. Sometimes when he’s coughing I start panicking and I think I should take him to the vet THIS VERY DAY and end his suffering. But in between coughing fits, he seems happy and fluffy and comfy and young, and it seems ridiculous to be considering ENDING HIS LIFE over some COUGHING. It is hard to know what to do, and I’m encouraged by how many of you said that when it was Time, you Knew.
Heath Insurance. Our health insurance did change, but there was a happy surprise: our monthly contribution is indeed more than our mortgage payment, but the deductible I was so upset about doesn’t apply to regular stuff like office visits and prescriptions—it only kicks in with the more expensive stuff like hospital stays and medical equipment. THEY COULD HAVE SAID SO.
Cloth Napkins. Still going well, except that once I get on a Quest I have trouble Stopping, and so we have more cloth napkins than we can possibly use, and also enough napkin rings for a reunion of the extended Duggar family.
The Other Kind of Reusable Napkins. Can you believe I have NOT YET TRIED THEM? I bought a whole bunch and there they sit, unused. I WILL try them. I WILL. I just…haven’t yet. It’s a hurdle! And they’re so pretty, I don’t want to ruin them! …Except that if they get ruined, I get to choose more pretty designs…
I love all these updates! They appeal to my sense of order and completeness.
I read American Psycho quite a while ago, but I remember the ending being infuriating. I think at the time I decided he had imagined/fantasized the whole thing. EH.
I love update posts.
I am a master letter-to-the-manager writer. I compose them as I am driving away from the offending establishment.
I just realized that I have been using the “other” reusable napkins for a year now. Mine are not ruined at all. Do eeet!
that picture of henry snuggling the dinosaur is just awesome. :-)
i so wish i could get on board the cloth napkin train, but i am SO LAZY about laundry as it is… i would always just have a pile of dirty napkins and end up using paper ones anyway.
I felt the same about American Psycho.
And delusional, with some weird tendencies.
This winner of the cloth napkin contest is still using them. We lurve them. Thank you again!
Yea! Updates! Thank you for not leaving us hanging!
Love the bronto pic.
Hey, guess what? Today on my blog, we’re talking about pregnancy and who enjoyed it and who didn’t, and also labor. Right up your alley! Plus, you’re experienced, so chime in!
Oops, I forgot the link, which is here
CUTE Henry pic!! Thanks for the book reviews – now I know what to spend time on and what not to waste time on! I HATE endings that do not tie together.
I just made baby food prune muffins with some chopped up raisins instead of chocolate chips and they’re delicious! I’m feeding a 1-yr-old who is currently a little, um, stopped up, but is refusing all fruit and only eating bread products. Prune-raisin muffins it is!
I mentioned this on Twitter, but I’ll expand. I think that he just imagined and fantasized about all those things. When you think about it, it would have been impossible for him to pull all that off and not get caught. Although I do think some of his violent tendencies were probably real, I don’t think he actually killed anyone.
But it kind of makes you wonder what the heck all those seemingly normal people around us really think about, doesn’t it?
Hey! Pens! I’ve been meaning to mention this: I bought some pens when I was in Japan. They were super cheap, and every one is the best pen I’ve ever used. If you have the chance to do one of your swappy things with someone with Japanese wares, try to score some pens.
Also. Cats, and a question you can feel free to ignore: I am bottle feeding three teeny eyes-still-closed kittens, caught attempting to fall in our pool (there is a long prologue involving staking out the yard for observation of feral mama cat whereabouts and whatdoings, but the near drowning thing sort of sealed the deal). So far it seems to be going well. However, we’ve been doing the whole mama-cat-mimicry-rub-the-bottom-with-assorted-stuff thing to help them potty, but only one is giving it up, poop-wise. Do you have any experience with this? My experience getting tiny kittens to poop is as vast as my doll collection (which is nonexistent).
I WISH I knew the answer to this, because Kitten Pooping would be such an awesome thing to have expertise in!
American Psycho – I think he was delusional.
Henry – SO cute! Love snuggling the dinosaur.
Malcolm Gladwell – totally agree. I read Tipping Point and will not read anything else by him.
Since Henry likes dinos, you totally should show him the picture of dino truck that I have on my blog today…it is quite weird, but a 2 year old would dig it!
I love pens.
And I am blown away that you and Astarte know each other for reals.
I’m with everyone else on the delusional verdict for American Psycho.
I am also very very curious to see how you like the OTHER cloth napkins …
I haven’t read AP, and now I’m not going to. BUT, I may watch the movie, because I’ve had a serious Christian Bale thing ever since he was Laurie in Little Women. *swoon*
Thanks for the mention. :) And you looked adorable in your trampy skirts and ho hose.
I haven’t gotten on the cloth napkin train yet. I’m just… unsure. I love my o.b. tampons.
These updates are just too fun! Some topics I totally forgot about, so it was good to be refreshed about them!
I am so terrified to watch American Psycho because I too have had a long Christian Bale crush and don’t want it ruined by seeing him murder multiple people, whether those murders are imaginary or not.
Henry snuggling the dino . . . OMG . . . I am going do die of the cuteness.
Switsle, you inspired me to buy “the other reusable napkins” and I have been happily using them for 3 months now. Easy. You will love them.
I walk a fine line between really wanting to use cloth napkins because I know they make less waste and vehemently refusing to do one more piece of ever-loving laundry.
Love the updates. Makes it all nice and neat in my Type-A brain.
Sorry I suck at commenting lately. I’m still here (and my recent baby who I had, what, like three minutes ago, will be a YEAR ?!?)
Another update I’ll continue waiting patiently for- potty training!
Oh, you totally inspired me to go with cloth napkins! My best discovery yet? Cute tea towels on discount (the softer kind) work perfect, too!
Love the wraps ups!
An excellent time for me to tell you I LOVE cloth napkins! And it’s all your fault! I tentatively mentioned them to my husband when I read one of your first posts, and he liked the idea so we’ve been doing it for a couple months now. We’ve already saved a ton of money on napkins and paper towels.
Hi Swistle,
A couple of things- I read you daily but never comment- a silent lurker….
Anyway, I started reading you via Sundry. Is the something wrong with her site? I haven’t been able to get there in a week…..
Thing the second- regarding health insurance- since you have a high deductible you should find out if you can open a Health Savings Account. It’s like an IRA for health care- contributions are tax deductible and you dip into it to pay co-pays, prescriptions and anything else health care related. Your local bank branch can set one up for you- it’s just a checking acct BUT it earns interest. WIN WIN.
Feel free to email me with any questions.
Niki
Hi Swistle,
A couple of things- I read you daily but never comment- a silent lurker….
Anyway, I started reading you via Sundry. Is there something wrong with her site? I haven’t been able to get there in a week…..
Thing the second- regarding health insurance- since you have a high deductible you should find out if you can open a Health Savings Account. It’s like an IRA for health care- contributions are tax deductible and you dip into it to pay co-pays, prescriptions and anything else health care related. Your local bank branch can set one up for you- it’s just a checking acct BUT it earns interest. WIN WIN.
Feel free to email me with any questions.
Niki
American Psycho- I think he imagined the whole thing. Ugh.
When I read the last line of the last page of American Psycho, I threw the book across the room. And I never abuse books. But, if you read anything else by B.E.E., you’ll find they’re all fairly maddening. My absolute favorite (and least irritating) is Lunar Park. Least favorite is Glamorama. I don’t know how it happened, but apparently I’m a big fan of his.
Niki- Oh! I don’t know! I’ll go check! …No, I can still get there.
How I love that Henry!! Is “Walking with Dinosaurs” coming to your area? Hub is taking Bud on Sunday. It’s supposed to be AMAZING! (but is not cheap)
I read ‘The Blue Cotton Gown’ after seeing it here (must do anything Swistle does!) It was REALLY a great book. I think you would like it. It’s one that will stay with me for a very long time, which given my crappy memory is saying a lot.
Love your comments. I just found your blog and love it!
JennyMac
letshaveacocktail.blogspot.com
I checked out the Duggar book from the library, too. I also found it irritating/boring. And what about the fact that throughout the ENTIRE book they alternately say: “I (Jim Bob) did such and such.” and “I (Michelle) was this and that.” How about not using the ridiculous and excessive parentheses and just write the damn book in the third person like NORMAL??
Do you sew? I know where to find a free simple doll pattern that Elizabeth might like. I made one for Evie for her birthday and she loves it. I’m probably going to have to make another for her to keep here. She drags it around everywhere! And her three-year-old cousin keeps trying to steal it, too. I’ll give you a link, or email it. I made a few modifications to make the limbs easier to turn.
Brightfeather – I don’t sew, but my MOM does, and sometimes I can coerce her into sewing something for me!
http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/free-doll-pattern.html The most tedious part is the hair. It took me a skein and a half to do it, so you have to braid it, sew it on the head, and after you’ve got a decent hairline and enough coverage, unbraid the stuff, before you can style and cut it. Took me a week, but the results were good. And since the body is also clothes, it’ll never be a naked dolly!